


Immortal

by yeaka



Category: Kiss of the Rabbit God (兔兒神)
Genre: M/M, Vignette
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-14
Updated: 2020-09-14
Packaged: 2021-03-06 23:28:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 511
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26457199
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yeaka/pseuds/yeaka
Summary: A short epilogue.
Relationships: Tu’er Shen/Matt
Comments: 10
Kudos: 20





	Immortal

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I don’t own Kiss of the Rabbit God or any of its contents, and I’m not making any money off this.

It doesn’t hurt as much anymore. The day’s still _hard_ , somehow both busy and boring at once, the kitchen searing hot and the dining room a cacophonous racket, everyone ordering him about and no one really _seeing_ him, but when he catches his reflection in a plate straight out of the wash, he sees himself. And that’s something. There’s a moment of pure clarity, where Matt can feel the signs engraved on his chest, pulsing with every beat of his heart, and he knows he’s _alive_. The restaurant is just a temporary in-between. He _breathes_. He slides the plate over to the chef, lets it get weighed down with hastily, messily made food, and serves it up to a guest. 

That guest accepts the dish without even looking up at him. Matt doesn’t _care_. He knows his own value. At least, he does now. He turns around, ready to flitter to the next table, scribble down more orders and scramble through more menial tasks. But then he sees who’s taken the empty seat by the door, and he freezes like a statue. 

Shen lifts one tattoo- and ring-covered hand: a subtle sign of greeting that has Matt’s own blood pounding in his ears. Shen’s got his coat back on, his slick glasses and his immaculately styled red-pink hair. He looks like a fictional character right out of a fever dream, and for a while, Matt thought he was. 

Then Shen gestures over, and Matt moves like Shen’s got him on a leash. There might as well be invisible reins looped around his hips. He’s beside the table too soon, even though there were other patrons seated first that he should serve. He looks down into Shen’s sparkling eyes and can’t think of anyone else. 

Even more than mesmerized and hot under the collar, Matt’s _relieved_. He mutters almost reverently, “You’re back.”

Shen lifts a perfectly groomed brow like it’s nothing. “You didn’t think I would be?”

The symbols on Matt’s chest are itching, raging, memories flooding into him—carving himself up for Shen’s reflection and lying in Shen’s lap on the dirty floor, feeling Shen stroke through his hair and _loving_ every second. He looks at Shen and he can’t breathe. He’s too afraid to admit that he thought it was done. 

He woke up. _Shen_ woke him up. Made him see parts of himself that he never let out in the light. And maybe he thought Shen was there for just that—some patron saint that flickers from one place to another, blessing lost souls. 

Or maybe Shen’s just _hungry_ , and Matt can satiate both kinds. 

Throat dry and tongue thick, Matt asks, “Would you like something?”

“Tea?” He says it so simply. Matt nods and leaps to obey without even asking what kind. He didn’t last time either. He was too eager to please. 

Before he walks away, Shen casually adds, “See you tonight.” Colour floods Matt’s cheeks.

Matt nods again. He keeps walking without looking back, because he’s afraid that when he does, Tu’er Shen will be gone.


End file.
